New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-10-05
AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.
RELICS OF THE TOLTECS.

Trsnslsted from French by ]. GoNINo and HELES
Harper & Brothers
Tbis handsome and beautifully illustrated vol
,,ra contains the record Of NJ Desire Charnay's
explorations in Mexico and Central America under
the Joint auspices of the French Government anu
Mr. Peter Lorlllard, whose munifcsnce secured lor
American museums important relics whlch wouiu,
but for that gentlemans action have been exported
TO Europe. NJ. Charnav has theory to uphold. IL
"a the comparatively recent date OF the c'viSaC'oh
which produced the monuments found In the lula
Valley and Central America. This civilization no
holds to have been the Tolteo certainly the most
advanced Of the Nahua natiOus, and the Toltecs no
helieyes to have fourished not more than thou
sand wears ago. The evidence In support OF THIS
hvnotbesis Is cumulative, and while not so conclu-
awe AZ NJ Charuay thinks, 1t Is strong enough 10
command the most serious attention from archHolo-
Rists The Totec civilization as SHOWN III ZIG
monuments exhibits many OF the apparent CONTRA
d1ctions which were inseparable from the attempts
to interpret such imperfect records. For example
while Central America swarms with the remains OF
temples and palaces there are no relics OF popular
habitations At Uxmal. Paenque, Copan and many
other places there Is incontestaole evidence Oh d
fourishng religious and edifices dedicated to
Its service on magnificent ascale as apparently 10
imply the vicinity Of populous cities yet so far as
dictate that these great temples and palaces did not
stand alone.
Too much weight may, however. easily be put
mon negative evidence Of this character. Proba-
bilities must always count for much In forming
conclusions when IL is clear that the visible record
is defective The absence of remains OF great cities
certainly cannot prove that no such cities Formerly
existed. The presumptiOn-amost, we might cay.
the certainty-is that the habitatiOus of the COM
mon people were fragile and easily effaced IL III.
Charnay moreover Is right In ascrlbing an As1atic
origin to the Totecs. this consideration assumes
still greater significance; for all the Eastern peo-
pie to whom he hkens the American pioneers-those
of Java, Cambodla. Japan, for example-have from
the remotest antiquity occupied Just such fragile
and ephemeral dwellings, themselves, while their
relipious edfces have been soiid, massive aud en-
during even beyond the architecture OF more ad-
vanced races There is no city in Java or Cambodia
which might not in few years assume the aspect
Of Copap or PalenQue to-day. Any agency which
caused desertion and destruction and relegated
the site to nature would. within decade
bring about the same complete disappear
ance of the dwellings, Of the masses, the
same eflorescence of luxurlaut vegetation mask
ing everything and the same apparent isola-
ton of the temples and palaces, which wouid
then seem as now in Central America, to speak OF
u
and the nation nothing.
The probability is that all the monuments exam
1nod by NJ Charnay were centres OF population.
There is indeed some positive evidence to this o.
feet in a few instances, dating further back than
the period of the Spanish conquest That az that
time the Toltec civilization was declining cannot
be questioned but here and there peculiar ctrcum-
stances had maintained 1T in almost pristine vigor
Tho enthusiasm Of the national Quilt survived the
national power. and long after the Toltec empire
had passed away scattered remnants OF the once
mighty nation continued to cling about their tenn
pies and to offer, upon the pyramid platforms. the
sacrifices and the worship Of their ancestors The
.Toltecs, NJ. Charnay holds. were mild and peace
full people, and far in advance Of the Aztec branch
No human sacrifices stained their affairs. and their
religion was fundamentally O form of Nature wor-
ship in hch the fruits of the earth furnished the
sacrifical elements. IL must be admitted that some
of the explanations Of pecullarities In their GUS
toms are wanting IN probability and are sometimes
palpably strained. The suggestion that the Gull
Gus rudeness Of their sculpturaI treatment OF the
human figure, concldeDtaly with the exhibition OF
refined skill and artistic Judgment upon sculptural
ornament and decoration. was boconseQuence oil an
ecclesiastical rule is satisfactory. IT Is doubt
less derived from Egyptian practice. but it must
be remembered that while IN Egypt there certainly
were priesty formalisms which prescr bed the fash
ion of the mortuary mural paintings and sculpt-
ures. there is no instance in the Nile monuments
of archaic forms being applied IN the strangely
incongruous manner they were IN the Ioltec tem-
pies. Nor again. is the Totec adhesion to
archaic treatment of the human figure by any
means universal. On the contrary, 1t Is frequently
dealt with as carefully, iuteligenty and artistl-
cay as are the decorative works. and in these In
stances of congruous sculpture the results are very
III ha oil
origin among the Totec monuments are indeed far
too numerous 10 be passed over lightly. Occa-
siopally the sculptured representation of Ioltec
priest engaged III ceremonial worship strongly re-
calls Assyrian and Chaldalc monuments, and
among the symbols appears once or twice something
which curiously resembles the conventional Assy-
rian emblem which stood for the altar of Astarte.
The cross in many forms Is found on Ioltec re-
maius The Suastiga, common III India from APP
parently very early period, is seen here. and IN
one of the Central American temples there is
gigantic cross empanelled amid a wealth OF orna-
mentaton reminding one of the most hord period
of Byzantine art.
It is scarcely possible to believe that the people
who produced such art-work had no iron that
their finest sculptures were done with obsidlan
tools: but when it is known that much OF the
more delicate Ornamentation was in plaster and
not stone, and that it was moulded and attached
after the principal figure had been more roughly
carved, the marvel is diminished aud the difficulty
becomes less formidable. After making all proper
deductions, however. the Toltec work is significantly
striking, and 1T justiies the conclusion that the
people may have been almost on par intellect
ually with the ancient Egyptians. They have left
no literature whereby one may determine their
position. but there is good ground for believing
that important records which would probably have
solved many problems persisted among the bonfres
of Indian manuscript and skin and tally memorials
lighted by the stupid brutal and barbarous Span
iards The latter. like Caliph Omar. destroyed the
evidences of civilization superior in several re-
spects 10 their own. The mission Of the Toltecs in